Ivan Bunin (Author)
Ivan Bunin was born in 1870 in Voronezh, Central Russia. He began his career writing poetry and working as a copy editor for various newspapers and literary publications, eventually becoming the literary editor of a number of important journals. His collections of poetry and short stories gained rapid fame, which enabled him to leave his job and live as a freelance writer, travelling abroad frequently. In the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution, he emigrated to France, where he continued writing in exile. In 1933 he became the first Russian to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. He died in relative poverty in 1953.

Bryan Karetnyk (Translator)
Bryan Karetnyk is a British writer and translator. His recent translations include major works by Yuri Felsen, Gaito Gazdanov and Boris Poplavsky. He is also the editor of the landmark Penguin Classics anthology Russian Émigré Short Stories from Bunin to Yanovsky.